No controversy about this one – everyone agrees that ‘stiÞe’ is nettle, and all the herbal traditions agree that it is powerful against fevers and inflammation – notoriously used against rheumatism by Roman soldiers – good for the kidneys, and a very useful antihistamine. In many countries the fibres from nettles were used to make a thread that could be woven like linen, ropes, or fishing nets. I have not found any reference to a herb that ‘fought with the serpent’ anywhere, so I can’t account for that, but Grieve says that nettles planted around beehives will deter frogs. I can’t say I ever thought frogs might be a problem, but there you go.

They are! And you can make nettle tea for a liquid feed for vegetables, which doesn’t smell quite so foul as comfrey. I have a nettle amnesty in a wild corner, for orange tip butterflies, but if you can’t bear that, they are supposed to doe out if you cut them down three times in a season.